


Necessary Choices

by Merfilly



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-04
Updated: 2010-05-27
Packaged: 2017-10-14 11:52:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/148950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Scout is dying, a Leader has a secret, and Ratchet is befuddled</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter two written with trunks_angel from Livejournal

Ratchet swore softly under his breath as he attempted to stem the loss of fluids in the small scout. He had heard of conditions like this, where the self-repair went offline and refused to reboot. But he had never had to deal with it at the code level. The humans had genetic viruses, he had heard, and this was the equivalent. Without an infusion of spark energy from someone bearing the same code lineage as Bumblebee, they might just lose him.

Unfortunately, Bee had come to the Autobots as an orphan, rescued from one of the various Sparkling houses that took care of such not long before the massacre of Sparklings and femmes both on Cybertron. Ratchet was going to be hard pressed to break this news to Prime. Bumblebee was the bravest of brave, and very close to the gentle leader of the Autobots.

"Primus," he breathed softly, once he had the fluid lines repaired. Bumblebee was safe for now, but the fluids remaining were at risk as Bee's Spark deteriorated under the flawed code. Knowing time was against him, he shouldered the responsibility and headed for Prime's office, to get permission to sample the baseline code of all the Autobots they had on Earth.

Surely someone shared the lineage. They had to, for Bee's sake.

`~`~`~`~`

Optimus looked up as Ratchet entered his office, seeing the worried look of his medic. He put aside his data entry pad, and focused entirely on the medic, knowing who had been in med bay most recently.

"Bumblebee?"

Ratchet huffed air through his vents in a sound of frustration. "I can repair the damage, but not the cause. And the cause will kill him, Prime, unless I can find a mech that shares his lineage. He has a code virus."

Optimus went still and silent in a way that Ratchet had never known their leader to do.

"Optimus... do you know something of Bumblebee's heritage?"

Optimus took a long moment to to answer that question, as memories he had long ago buried came to the forefront of his mind. "You need look no further, Ratchet, for one who shares his lineage." Optimus rose from his seat. "I am his mech creator."

"You." For a moment, the floor could have dropped from beneath Ratchet's feet and he wouldn't have noticed. "Does he know his?" He was wasting vital moments, he knew, but it was almost too much for his processor to take.

"Only two know the secret beyond myself, something I would prefer to maintain, even to Bumblebee himself. He is...already too brave." Optimus was willing to walk with Ratchet right now. "However, as I know your curiosity, my friend. Once Bumblebee is safe, I will tell you why and how this came to be."

To keep something so vital hidden... Ratchet would not argue with Optimus in this, though. He was certain that Optimus had better reasons than _that_ to keep the yellow minimech in the dark. "I will hold you to that, Optimus." He gestured towards the door. "For now, though, I need you to come with me. I wasted more time than necessary already."

Optimus followed Ratchet down to the med bay, his faceplates carefully hiding the more personal level that he was taking this threat to the scout. All these centuries of being just the small mech's leader were paying off, keeping Optimus steady. He remembered to tell Prowl to take charge, because he would be busy with Ratchet, before they entered the med bay and prepared to transfuse a fresh code patch to the younger mech.

`~`~`~`~`

Optimus was resting in his berth the next day, when Ratchet found the time to come to get the full story on why Bumblebee had been allowed to believe his creators were killed in the early days of the war.

"Come in, Ratchet," Optimus invited as he sat up, knowing who waited beyond his door.

"Alright, Prime, why in Primus' name is the idea of you being Bumblebee's creator so top secret?! He was told his creators were killed by Megatron back on Cybertron!" Ratchet sat down in the chair, as Optimus rose to get them both Energon.

"His creators were killed...for all intents and purposes, just as he was told...as I will now tell you." Optimus had to take a long moment. "A long time ago, when the troubles had not spread much beyond the war between Vos and Tarn, there was a very young dockworker named Orion Pax. He and his friend Dion were responsible for the security of the docks, making sure that the space was not vandalized or used for illegal purposes. Orion was spark bonded to Ariel, and the three lived in close harmony. They did feel the energy crisis, and knew of the unrest throughout the planet, but like so many others, they were certain it would pass, that a solution would be found."

Ratchet listened, rapt by the tale, as he sensed the huge unrest it had begun in his leader.

"One day, as Orion worked, the greatest of the gladiators, who had risen from such humble beginnings to stand at the side of the leader of Iacon, came to the docks, inspecting the works there. He took the time to speak to both Dion and Orion, eventually winding up in a long, deep conversation over the future of Cybertron, and how those who did nothing were only aiding Cybertron's downfall."

Ratchet winced. Few that were old enough to remember the beginnings of the war failed to remember just how Megatron had begun. So popular, so charismatic, Megatron had swayed so many to his side, so quickly.

"Orion found himself at odds with Dion and Ariel over this stance. Ariel agreed that change was needed, but with thought and deliberation, not the rebellious attitude rising around them. She was caring for their Sparkling at the time, not quite to its first upgrade. Dion, on the other hand, thought that perhaps there was something to making the change happen, by use of drastic measures if that is what it took to make the powerful notice."

"And Orion?" Ratchet had almost been able to accept the third person telling of the story, but he could see Elita in Ariel's thoughtful path, and maybe Ironhide in Dion's hotheadedness.

"Orion listened to them, but he listened to the gladiator hero, finding points that he was in complete agreement with. He found himself spending far more time with the other mech, learning the ailments of Cybertronian society, the inequality, the grievances, and he wished to do something about it."

Ratchet tried very hard not to think about Prime and Megatron in agreement on anything. He shifted, though, thinking of all the times the pair had managed to work in harmony, as if two halves of a whole.

"The gladiator told Orion there was a way, a way he could help, and in doing so, he would affect all of Cybertron and its problems." Optimus stopped, gathering his thoughts to him. "Orion went along with the plan, but it so happened that he knew too much, as did Ariel and Dion, for the gladiator's peace of mind."

"Primus..." Ratchet breathed.

"The gladiator made sure to cover his tracks, eliminating the three, but a powerful Cybertronian came, salvaging their frames and remaking them into three warriors, for their spirits were in the right place, no matter how misguided Orion had been by the gladiator." Optimus indicated himself. "He renamed me Optimus Prime. The gladiator never knew that his former conquest had become his new nemesis, but if I appeared with a Sparkling...they had overlooked him as inconsequential, I think, in their hunt for Orion, but it was known Orion had one."

"Primus, you had to give him up to save his life," Ratchet said, understanding. "But why, now that he's a mech fully grown, won't you tell him?"

Optimus shook his head. "Because we are all beings of free-will, and emotion. How do you think it would affect him to know? No, Ratchet, his creators died at the hands of Megatron's forces. Let him have that closure, rather than the inability to be as close to me as a Sparkling should be able to be."

The medic blew air out of his vents in noisy disagreement, thinking Bumblebee would handle it better than Prime thought...until he realized the flipside of the argument for Prime. Optimus could never afford to treat any of the mechs with more affection than any other, and he had lived all these centuries, trying so hard to be fair and just to all of them, without ever being able to love his Sparkling as openly as a Creator ought to be able to.

"I...I understand." Ratchet stood, coming over to grip Optimus's arm. "Heavy burden, Prime. You keep proving, though, that you have the shoulders for it." The medic then turned, leaving Optimus to his own thoughts.

The Autobot Leader walked back to his berth, laying down upon it again, and let his optics fully offline. There had been too much remembering this cycle for anything else.


	2. The Son, Like the Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bee shows he is his father's son

He was the only thing left standing between Megatron getting what he wanted - Optimus and the Matrix. Back-up had already been called for after the ambush, but Bee got the distinct impression that they weren't going to arrive in time to get them out of this fix.

It would be stupid if Bee said he wasn't afraid, but his determination and devotion to the mech he was defending overrode any instinct to run. In spark if not in anything else, Bee was his creator's offspring and he would not simply hide from this threat, even if it was the most dangerous to him.

"You will **not** have him, Megatron." Bee snarled, narrowing his optics. "By my very spark, I swear, you will **not** touch him!"

"Foolish little mech...how appropriate you are named for an insect as I will merely crush you and move on!" Megatron roared back, advancing.

Bumblebee knew he could not hope to defeat Megatron; the best he could do was to distract him and hope that he remained online long enough for the incoming back-up.

He knew how fast they'd be pushing themselves, the fear and dread in their sparks that they would arrive too late; Bee had to do what he could to make sure their fears did not become the reality that they would face.

"It is dangerous to underestimate me, Megatron!" Bumblebee retorted.

He moved as Megatron powered up his fusion cannon, not wanting the blast to hit his downed creator. Megatron's aim followed, as he expected and he let the blast come to him. At the last moment, Bee curled up, raised his shields, riding the blast and the resulting shockwave into the air. Though burned and singed, Bee activated his own weapon and returned fire.

"Impressive attempts, puny efforts," Megatron sneered, stalking the impediment to his victory as he opted to bring his energy mace into the fray, rather than waste another shot at this point.

Bee landed back on the ground on his feet, which was just as well because he had to dodge the first swing of the mace. He did so with inches to spare and fired another few shots at the Decepticon leader. The smaller bot kept up his energy shields, doing his best to keep Megatron in his sights and avoid the vicious blows of the mace. Megatron deflected the worst of the shots strictly by angling his own energy fields, quickly growing annoyed at the agile little mech. All he needed was one solid blow and he would crush the scout, though.

"You cannot hope to divert me long enough, Autobot. Yet, your bravery is admirable. Cease to fight and I might have a place for you as I end this war for once and all!"

"I'm sure that's a tempting offer for most," Bee replied as he gritted his dentals, hissing through his vents as one swing grazed his shoulder. "But I'm not interested. Optimus' spark and the Matrix are not yours to take, Megatron!"

The steely determination, the knowing in his narrowed optics and the poise which he held himself - in that moment it was so clear to see who he resembled.

"He's taught you well... but you really ought to thank me, little mech!" Megatron said after assembling that resemblance with his vague memories of a long destroyed household on Cybertron. "Without me, he never would have been anything to admire!" Megatron roared before rushing Bumblebee.

"I would've admired him **whatever** he became!" Bumblebee yelled defiantly. "Nothing can destroy a tie such as that and I will defend him with all that **I** am!" Bee held his ground and he didn't waver, not for an instant. Optimus Prime, the Autobot's leader, the mech who had helped to give him life, Bee loved him and his femme creator more than anything. He would rather face the end of everything than see him destroyed. He held his cannon up and kept his aim as the two mechs clashed head-on.

Optimus was dimly aware of the clash of metal on metal, the brutal crunch of dermaplating giving way to stronger blows. He levered up, and when he saw his bravest warrior, the mech whose spark glowed more brightly than his size could hold, he felt all his will unite in a single purpose. Megatron had to be stopped, and that was his only goal at this point, a low cry of his nemesis's name on his voder as he forced himself toward the battle.

Bee cried out as he was slammed into the ground and crushed under one large foot, just before another yell snapped through the air and it didn't come from either Megatron nor him. Drawing in a rattling intake, Bee saw Optimus rising and moving quickly to join the fight. He was damaged, but Bee knew he would not let that stop him, just as he would not allow his own injuries to stop him.

With Megatron's attention snatched away by that cry for that brief moment, Bumblebee acted. Grabbing one part of the foot crushing him into the ground, Bee switched his other hand for a stinger and jabbed it straight into the plating and inside where delicate wires and servos were. Without waiting a moment, Bee let off as high an electrical charge as the little bot had, but at such close proximity, the current backlashed into him as well. He knew that in close quarters, his weapon was a double-edged sword, but in a situation like this, he wasn't going to hold back from using it.

"Bumblebee!" Optimus called out in personal agony at the risk his brave little scout was taking, the mech he had carefully protected from the truth, and he swung his axe arm with everything he had to throw Megatron from the smaller mech in order to separate them. Bee disconnected the current a moment before he felt the heavy weight lift from his chestplates and he uttered a quiet sigh of relief from that pain.

He knew he was a mess, of split energon, torn wires with dented and shattered plating. From the way Optimus was reacting, he knew he was badly damaged.

"B-Back up is...c-coming, sir." Bumblebee told his leader when he drew close to him. "I-I already... called them..."

Optimus dropped to a knee, gathering the smaller form to him when it was clear that Megatron was not rising immediately from the powerful blow. "Shh, Bumblebee. Reserve your energies."

Bee smiled lightly up at the Autobot leader, wanting to reach up and touch his battle mask, but not having the energy to do so. "Y-You should've told me." He spoke quietly. "I knew....I-I knew a....long time ago....b-before we left Cybertron..."

"Told you?" Optimus's fluids ran cold as he realized what Bumblebee meant, and he looked nervously toward his fallen foe. That was a dangerous secret. "Rest, Bumblebee. Please."

Bee fell quiet and spoke no more, but his optics clearly spoke for him that he was far from done talking about that secret. With a soft intake and exhale, Bee shuttered his optics and allowed his systems to quieten, placing himself in stasis lock to preserve his energy.

Optimus laid him back down carefully and then made his way cautiously toward Megatron, knowing what he should do...and yet he did not know if he could, not outside of true battle.

`~`~`~`~`

When Bee next opened his optics, it was no longer a dark, cold sky that greeted him. It was a warm, familiar space that held much dread for some mechs, particularly with who was in charge of that area.

"Ratchet?" Bee murmured, looking around the medbay and expecting the find the Autobot CMO somewhere.

"Awake now?" Ratchet came in sight and had a cranky look on his faceplates. "About time. You'd think you were the only idiot mech needing my time." There was, however, pride behind those words, and worry.

Bee was glad to see Ratchet, but now that his processors were coming back online, he remembered where he **had** been prior to waking.

"Where's Optimus?" Bee asked, pushing himself up from the berth.

"That overbearing, overgrown mech with no sense of self-preservation!" Ratchet grumbled. "Refuses to acknowledge I might just happen to know when he ought to be up and moving around and just blithely lets himself up out of my med bay!"

Bee smiled in relief, "He's alright, thank Primus."

But now, Bee had a problem. He knew to continue his conversation with his mech creator, he'd need to leave the medbay too, but did he risk Ratchet's wrath? It wasn't pretty at the best of times.

"Do you need him, Bee? He did say to call him back if anything happened," Ratchet said in a slightly more charitable voice.

"I do." Bee nodded. "But...it's regarding a private matter."

Ratchet glared at him. "What do you think I am, Wheeljack's personal informant on the latest gossip? You need to talk to him, I'll call him here, and then go check on my other patients."

"Sorry." Bee ducked his helm. "Thanks, Ratchet."

Ratchet went and called Optimus over the base communication system, then did as promised as soon as their battered leader came in...with a withering glare that said Optimus should still be under his care anyway.

Optimus came and carefully sat on the edge of the berth Bee was on. "That was an incredibly brave thing you did, Bumblebee."

"Not brave." Bumblebee shook his helm. "Necessary, to save that which is most important of all."

"Hardly," Optimus said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "There is nothing more important to me than the lives of any of our people." His optics flicked though with more emotion as he took in the damage that was still repairing itself on Bumblebee.

"Optimus..." Bee looked at the Autobot leader with fondness but also frustration. "Stop hiding, I **know** that which you don't want me to."

"It is not you that should not know." Optimus reached out to run a hand over Bumblebee's helm. "The ones who would use that knowledge against you, to hurt me."

"They would do so anyway, for they already know how loyal I am to you." Bumblebee replied. "Of course it worries me and I was afraid, facing Megatron alone, but all that mattered to me was **you**. I found out the truth before we'd even left Cybertron! I was waiting for you to come to me and **tell** me."

Optimus looked surprised. "You've known that long?" He took his ... his creation's hand gently, still amazed at the spirit in that small form. "I wanted to protect you. Not just from enemies, but from those who might see the way I favor you."

"There are those who regard me with ill-favour anyway, simply for being a minibot." Bumblebee replied with ease. "It is nothing I haven't faced before."

"I have never felt anything but pride in all you are, in all you do," Optimus Prime told him firmly. "Even were you not of my spark...I would be proud to call you 'family'. And I am honored to call you 'friend'."

Bee's spark glowed warmly with joy and content, ducking his helm in shyness at the compliments that came from both his leader, his friend and his mech creator. "Even before I had discovered the secret, I would do anything for you, Optimus."

"I know." Optimus squeezed the smaller hand. "You should be resting, I am certain." He made to rise from the edge of the berth.

But Bumblebee was faster in his movements, despite his still healing injuries. He wrapped his smaller arms around as much of Optimus as he could, holding onto him and pressing his faceplates against his plating. "Don't leave." He asked quietly, shuttering his optics. "Not just yet, please?"

Optimus paused, then gently shifted to hold the smaller bot. "I think...I think I will stay." He smiled behind his mask. "It would make Ratchet calmer, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, I think it would, he was quite grumpy with you for leaving," Bee replied.

"May I borrow the edge of your berth?" Optimus asked, optics glowing softly at the idea of knowingly being near his long-since grown-up sparkling.

Bumblebee shifted enough for Optimus to sit on the berth and then he remained close to his mech creator's side, laying quietly and content against him and shuttering his optics with a soft sigh.

Optimus rested a hand lightly on the injured mech, before letting his own optics go offline, content to rest just as he was, this close to the memory of his origins.


	3. Femmes and Bees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ironhide steps in to help

Ironhide really didn't know, at times, just how Optimus and Elita managed it. He kept watching Flareup tease and flirt, watched the little scout absolutely not see it. What did that orphanage teach the mech as he was coming up that he couldn't see she was definitely interested in some one on one time? How in all Primus' creations were the two leaders managing to not nudge the yellow 'bot into comprehension?

'Hide didn't often have to fight down his memories of that life before Megatron, but sometimes, like now, it was slagging impossible to get away from it. Bumblebee had been a cute little tyke, and had caught Dion's spark from day one, but seeing this, and there not being a creator in play to help him? It was just wrong.

So 'Hide walked on over, smiled charmingly at Flareup, then guided 'Bee away for a one on one talk. In the end, he wasn't sure which of them wound up with hotter faceplates; himself for trying to explain the mechanics of attraction, or 'Bee for having to explain that wasn't what he wanted.

At least they both agreed on a strategy to turn her down, so she could go vamp some other mech for a change.


End file.
